From Promising Young Woman to The Great Gatsby and She Said, Mulligan has demonstrated her vast range, but as Leonard and Felicia’s marriage comes to an end and Felicia’s health deteriorates, Mulligan provides a rare nuance to a lost and lonely woman who has sacrificed her life for the price of her husband’s art.

The film begins as a bewitching chronology of their life together, as an elderly Bernstein reflects back on his early years with his wife. The energetic exchanges in their youth are shown in black and white, a stark contrast to the buzzing atmosphere of their undeniable chemistry.

The couple meet at a party before their unconventional relationship begins. Leonard falls in love with Felicia, and their early days are blissfully easy and happy.

In a remarkable progressive fashion for the time, Felicia is accepting of Leonard’s casual boyfriends, and the couple pride themselves on maintaining a healthy marriage, where all of Leonard’s needs are satisfied – even the ones that Felicia can’t meet herself.

Inevitably, their relationship is predominantly seen through Leonard’s eyes. Yet, as time passes and the composer’s career skyrockets with West Side Story and other astounding accomplishments, their marriage begins to disintegrate.

At this point, it shifts into the vivid colour of the present and Mulligan delivers the performance of her career. Felicia’s sacrifice is made all the more devastating during some of the film’s saddest scenes, and the time she was so desperately worried about filling without Leonard in her life is tragically cut short.

Carey Mulligan is the true heart of Bradley Cooper’s upcoming movie, Maestro